ARCADIA, Calif. - Trainer Phil D’Amato worked all seven of his prospective Breeders’ Cup starters Saturday morning at Santa Anita.
Vodka With a Twist (Juvenile Fillies) worked five furlongs in company with One Magic Philly (Filly and Mare Sprint), the two being timed in 1:00.80. D’Amato liked what he saw from Vodka With a Twist, who will be stretching out to 1 1/16 miles for the first time.
ARCADIA, Calif. - With National Treasure now out of the Dirt Mile, trainer Bob Baffert will be coming into next weekend’s Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar a bit under the radar with many of his eight starters and he’s not thrilled about it.
“I like to be 1-9,” Baffert said. “There’s room for error. I like blinking lights.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – There Goes Harvard was last of three on an also-eligible list for the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 2 when pre-entries were announced on Wednesday.
By Saturday, trainer Michael McCarthy was making plans to start There Goes Harvard in the $5 million race at 1 1/2 miles.
There Goes Harvard is expected to gain a berth in the race following the absences of Continuous and Illinois from the Breeders’ Cup, and a likely decision to start Content in the BC Filly and Mare Turf and Next in the BC Classic the same day.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The California-based mare Kirstenbosch and 2-year-olds McKinzie Street and So There She Was will not start in Breeders’ Cup races at Del Mar on Nov. 1-2, their trainers said on Saturday.
Kirstenbosch was withdrawn from the BC Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 2 after she scoped poorly following a five-furlong workout in 1:01.20 on Saturday, trainer John Sadler said.
“We didn’t like her work this morning,” Sadler said. “She had a good bit of mucous.
“She’s not ready to go the next round. We don’t feel she’s where we want her.”
Thorpedo Anna, the four-time Grade 1 winning 3-year-old filly, completed preparations for next Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff by working five furlongs in 1:01.24 over the Oklahoma training track in Saratoga Saturday morning.
Abientot, winner of the Grade 3 Matron Stakes at Aqueduct on Oct. 6, is expected to start in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1 after the defection of the English group stakes winner Celandine.
Celandine, who won the Group 2 Lowther Stakes at York Racecourse in England on Aug. 22, finished fifth behind BC Juvenile Fillies Turf hopeful Lake Victoria in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket on Sept. 28.
On Thursday, a stable spokesman for trainer Ed Walker said Celandine will not be sent to California.
Trainer Bob Baffert will have numbers but he is unlikely to have the favorite when he seeks a record sixth victory in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to be run Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
Baffert pre-entered three 2-year-olds in the Juvenile and though all of them are graded stakes winners, the trio of Gaming, Getaway Car, and Citizen Bull are likely to go off at longer odds than the likes of East Avenue and Chancer McPatrick, who figure to vie for favoritism in an intriguing renewal of the Juvenile.
The Thoroughbreds pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup were bred in nine different countries – Argentina, Canada, Chile, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Japan, South Africa, and the United States. South Africa is among the countries seeking its first Breeders’ Cup win, and seeking to become a major player on the international stage.
Since his debut in October 2023, the 3-year-old Irish-bred colt Illinois has had a career focused on distance races, so much so that when he makes an expected start in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf at 1 1/2 miles on Nov. 2 at Del Mar he will race at a shorter distance than his last two starts.
Trained in Ireland by Aidan O’Brien, Illinois has been in the top three in all nine of his races. By the late sire Galileo, Illinois won his second Group 2 in the $216,500 Prix Chaudenay at 1 7/8 miles on soft turf by two lengths at 2-5 at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris on Oct. 5.
